One Decision, Two Years
by Snakedoc44
Summary: AU What if Zuko decided to run and go on his own? How would that affect his destiny? How will that affect the destiny of all those around them? Will he be strong enough to weather all that the spirits have to throw at him? Will move quickly through the series and focus on post comet stuff. Will eventually turn into a Zutara fic. Characters may be a bit OOC as well. You been warned!


Authors Note: Due to some overwhelming negative reviews I have taken Tales of the Gentle Dragon down for the time being. So instead of introducing a third story like I had intended to I am just going to focus my energies on this one as well as Two Mercs. I am not abandoning Two Mercs. I am just getting back into the swing of writing after a while and I needed to refocus my attitude before I re-engage my first story.

Summary: This is going to focus mainly on Zuko and his travels. It is another "What if" type of story, in a fashion similar to Two Mercs. In this case, What if Zuko didn't find the Avatar and instead decided to run and go his own way. Timeline is a little altered. All you need to know is Zuko's age is altered to fit the story better. Everyone else's age is the same. Will go through the series extremely quickly, mainly focuses on after the series

Disclaimer: I do not own Last Airbender. If I did there would've definitely been some major changes.

Enjoy :D Please read and Review it really does make me want to write more

Chapter 1

Banishment sucked. There was no other way to put it. Zuko snorted as for the final time he looked upon his ship. He knew his uncle wouldn't be pleased but that was beside the point. The point was that he was doing what he had to do. Zuko sighed as he stepped off the ship. It had been two years into his banishment and nothing had happened. He sighed as he accepted his fate as the dishonored prince. As he continued to walk away from the ship a twinge of guilt hit him. He wandered what his uncle would do in this turn of events. Swallowing hard Zuko forced himself to keep walking. As he made his way to the little village ahead he found and Ostrich horse and was able to climb on it's back and ride out of the village. He rode hard north making good time and putting a lot of distance between him and the village. He rode all night as far north as he could get.

As down broke he found himself close to the edge of another town. As he entered the gate he found a merchant staring at him. It unnerved Zuko to no end however he forced himself to keep moving. He found his way to a restauraunt that was open this early and stepped inside. Immediately he was found a seat and a waitress scurried over to him.

"Hey sweetie what can I do you for?"

"Just some soup and some Ginseng tea please."

The waitress took the order and it was only a short amount of time before she returned with the food. Zuko ate it hungrily. He was never one for manners, though if necessary he could use them. After he ate he paid for his meal with some of the money he had left and went into the market. As he came up to a vendor he saw Dual Dao swords hanging. Realizing that he couldn't rely on his firebending if he was to hide in plain sight he needed some form of defense.

"How can I help you son?"

"The Dual Dao swords please."

The merchant reached for them, "Ahhh, an excellent choice for one such as yourself. I can tell these things. Anything else?"

Zuko was about to say no when something drew his eye, "The mask."

"Ahh yes. Another excellent choice. Her you go my boy."

Zuko paid for the items then left the village on foot. His Ostrich Horse was just too tired, but he had to keep moving. He always had to keep moving. Until the news of his disappearance died down, if it was even noticed by the outside world that he had disappeared.

Zuko continued to walk for most of the day. As night approached he found himself on the edge of town. He donned the mask and the all black clothes he had acquired during the day. Hooking the swords onto his back he slipped unnoticed into the town. As he made his way through the town he saw two men looking around.

As their gaze fell over the rooftop Zuko was hiding on he fell once again into the shadows. Their whispers wafted up to him as he hid from view.

"We can hit tonight?"

"Are you sure, There has been a bunch of guards around lately."

"Yes. It's not like we can't take her."

Zuko had to stop his rage. He realized that they were planning on hurting someone, a young woman by the sounds of it. His honor inside of him started to boil. He had to force it down lest a fire start just because of it. As he heard their footsteps start once again he looked to see where they were heading. He looked up and saw them head to the fancy home, if it could even be called that, down the street.

As Zuko neared the home he saw it wasn't even a home at all, but an outer wall. Guards patrolled everywhere. Ever watchful. Zuko smirked as he realized the two men had no chance of getting in. However, when they walked right through the front gate, his face turned hard as stone.

It wasn't going to be easy to convince the guards of what he heard. These guys just walked right through the front gate without so much as a security check which means they were extremely trusted. He let out a little sigh. Running around the outside of the wall he stumbled across a small opening in the guards. Without thinking he ran and scaled the wall. He jumped to a tree that had the thick foliage and he thanked Agni that there was a semi-strong breeze happening. The guards paid no heed to the shaking of the branches as Zuko made his way down the tree. He continued to evade the guards as he made his way through the compound and into the main home.

As he entered the home through a window he saw the two men walking through a hallway. One carried a tray of tea and the other carried a tray of pastries into what Zuko assumed to be the main dinning area. Zuko waited and then he heard three distinct thumps as he heard people pass out.

The two men left the room dragging a small girl behind them. Zuko suppressed a snarl and followed behind them. Both got into a small ostrich horse drawn cart and exited the compound easily. Zuko had to again suppress his anger as they just left the compound without being stopped. Zuko easily made it to that tree and scaled over once again. He ran over the rooftops searching all the alleys for any sight of his quarry. He was almost demoralized because he didn't find them, but as he turned to move on his own way he saw the cart they took traveling down the main road.

Confused, but not going to abandon this stroke of luck Zuko continued to tail them. As they made their way through the city Zuko could tell that they were trying to lose any tails they might have. However, these people were so amateur in movements that it made the obvious. Zuko sighed as he just waited for them to make a mistake. It was not long before they did. They turned down and alley that they couldn't back out of. Zuko smiled as he leapt from the roof down in front of them in the alley. Pulling out his Dao swords he smiled beneath the mask.

Before they could ever react, Zuko descended on them. One was able to grab his sword and tried to defend himself. However, Zuko easily knocked the sword out of the way. He wasted no time knocking him out then turned to the second. The second man was frozen with fear. Zuko easily knocked him out as well. He found some rope and tied the two men up easily.

He then moved and checked the girl that was unconscious in the back of the carriage as well. When he checked her pulse he found that her suspicions were correct. He pulled her out of the carriage and sat her down on the ground. Using a bit of firebending and a trick his uncle taught him. He held the small flame underneath her nose and the smoke woke her almost instantly.

Zuko found himself being flung backwards. He expertly flipped around and landed on his own two feet. He drew his swords but made no move to attack.

"You are an earthbender." He stated

"And what makes you think that?" She asked sarcastically, "Where are those two idiots that thought they could get away with this?"

He nodded over in their general direction, but when she didn't move her head he realized that she was blind.

"Unconscious." He answered

"Then they are lucky. Who are you?"

"Just a friend."

"This friend have a name?"

A silence fell between the two as Zuko contemplated how to answer her. He couldn't say his actual name because that would just lead to more suspicions. However, he didn't actually have a name in place that he could use. It was a long moment before he actually came up with the answer.

"The Blue Spirit."

The young girl didn't really respond to that. Zuko held his breath for a few moments as this was the first impression. And first impressions were everything.

"So be it Blue Spirit. Thank you for helping me."

Zuko grunted in acknowledgement. He then leapt to the roofs, knowing that somehow the young girl would be fine in making her way home. He briefly heard the girl shout her thanks once again and her name. Zuko smiled as he disappeared into the night.

**A/N: ** Thank you for reading the first chapter. The Second Chapter should be soon to follow. As I said earlier, please read and review. As always until next time Snakedoc44


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